The Boy Next Door
by Lukeprism
Summary: Lucas figured having a friend in the boy next door couldn't possibly hurt. — Clingyshipping. Tentative hiatus.
1. Amber Eyes

_**WARNINGS**__**: Uh, none. Homosexuality in later chapters, though, so...BEWARE.**_

_**DISCLAIMER**__**: Lol at you thinking I own the Pokémon franchise. You silly.**_

—**s—t—a—r—t—c**—**h**—**a**—**p**—t—**e**—r—

The day was just like any other, really. Lucas woke up, staggered to his bathroom to brush his teeth, went downstairs for breakfast only to be forced to fetch the mail first, fed his trusty Luxio its favorite pokéfood, watched an episode of his favorite anime on the nice TV with his father, ascended the stairs once more to his room, changed into his day clothes, made his bed neatly, and turned on his own TV to play some video games. Quite the standard Saturday morning, all things considered.

But when Lucas went to draw the curtains back from his window to let in more light (playing games in the dark was bad for his eyesight, he would think), he saw something rather surprising. The nice two-story house next door, which had been vacant for quite some time since the previous owners had moved out, was now in the process of being reoccupied; a big moving van was parked out in front of it, and a few people stood outside watching the movers haul miscellaneous pieces of furniture into the place. An older man, an older woman, a little girl and a boy that looked to be about his age-fourteen.

Lucas watched them for a few moments before shrugging and turning his attention back to his game. Grabbing the controller and hopping onto his bed, he turned the console on and began where he'd left off last time he'd played. A little pink ball one assumed control of as the main player character appeared on the screen, and Lucas began mashing buttons expertly.

After a while, though, his mother came calling for him. "Lucas?" she half-asked, half-sang. "Honey, come down here. I want to introduce us all to the new neighbors and give them a little housewarming present!"

Lucas rolled his eyes, but he couldn't lie to himself; he'd known this was coming. His mother strived to be the town's nicest woman and mother, was was admittedly quite good at it. Thus he paused the game and slid back off his now-warm bed, walking to the door and slipping his shoes on before trudging down the stairs for the second time that morning.

He spotted his father still reading the newspaper on the sofa in front of the TV, and Luxio dozed lazily on floor next to said chair. His mother stood next to the front door, a plate of oversized chocolate chip cookies in her hands. They smelled delicious, being his mom's special recipe and all. She beckoned to them both. "Come on, you two! The mover's van is already leaving!"

Lucas' dad sighed and folded his paper. "Honey, you act like this will be our only chance to say hello," he pointed out, standing up and wincing as his back popped a couple of times.

"He has a point, Mom," Lucas agreed, walking toward her nonetheless. "They just got here. Maybe they don't wanna socialize?"

She huffed. "It's important to make a good first impression, you know," she retorted simply, opening the door. "And you're right, Lucas, maybe they don't want to socialize. But we can just introduce ourselves and get it out of the way, right?"

Lucas just shrugged in response. There was no winning an argument with his mother.

As they marched across the lawns to the other house, Lucas looked up at said house and gave it a bit more attention than he had in the past. It was two stories tall, like theirs, but it was painted a lighter brown than their own. The front lawn had a couple trees lining the sidewalk leading up to their house, and the plant beds lacked care, if the wilted flowers were anything to go by. The grass itself was quite tall and weeds were present, giving the place a slightly gruff exterior. The previous occupants had been a crabby old couple who didn't take much pride in their curb appeal, though, so it was expected. They'd been gone for months.

The new residents, on the other hand, appeared to have already gone inside. So the formed a triangle of sorts in front of their door with mother in the middle, father on the left and son on the right before they rang the doorbell. Lucas mustered up his best smile.

There was a few seconds pause before shuffling could be heard on the other side. When the door opened, a middle-aged woman with shoulder length curly brown hair opened the door and smiled warmly at them. "Oh my, visitors already!" she exclaimed, though not necessarily in a bad way.

Lucas' mom laughed. "Yes! I'm sorry if we're too soon, but I figured we could stop by and greet our new neighbors," she explained, bowing a bit.

The woman waved her apology away. "Of course, that's wonderful! Just let me call the rest of the family down." She poked her head back inside. "Everyone, get down here! We've got company!"

A few seconds later a substantially larger man with tame blonde hair appeared in the doorway, looking curious before he examined each of them and mirrored his wife's expression. "Why hello there! You must be our neighbors," he observed.

As they stepped out onto the porch, a couple pairs of jogging feet could be heard a few seconds before they were seen. Then there were two more new faces; the children of the family. One was a little girl no older than ten or eleven, and the other, taller child was a boy Lucas' age, though he was a bit shorter. They both had blonde hair, the girl's shoulder length and wavy and the boy's short. His had a few unruly tufts on either side of his head, though. And they both had the prettiest amber eyes Lucas had ever seen. The girl's were wide and adorned with long eyelashes, but the boy's glowed with energy and life. Lucas found himself staring inadvertently as their parents introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you all!" Lucas' mom gushed. "I'm Martha, this is my husband Brett, and this here is Lucas," she said, gesturing to her respective family members as they were mentioned. Lucas started when his name was said. He waved his hand a bit sheepishly at them all, giving them a soft hello.

The other woman nodded at all of them. "I see! Well then, I'm Linda, this is Palmer, and these two are Barry and Cassie," she introduced them in return. Palmer held up a hand, and Cassie giggled and waved cutely. Barry locked eyes with Lucas for a moment, expression blank, before his face broke into a smile and he waved at them as well. "Heya," he said. His voice was actually a bit deeper than Lucas had expected, but still higher than his own. That and his teeth dazzled Lucas with their pearly whiteness.

"Lovely to meet you!" Lucas' mom repeated, holding out her plate to them then. "Here's a little welcoming present from us. Welcome to Twinleaf!"

When Barry's mom took the plate, Cassie gasped. "Wow! Thanks miss! Mommy, can I have one? Pretty please!" she begged cutely, clasping her hands together and elongating the last word.

She laughed. "Oh, Cassie. Not now, darling, we've still got company!"

Martha giggled at the girl's antics. "Oh, that's fine. Besides, I'm sure you'd like some time to settle in a bit! We'll be going now; just wanted to say hello, that's all." She, her husband and Lucas all bowed more or less in unison again. "Have a good day!"

"Please, feel free to stop by anytime, we'd be happy to have you! Thank you again for the cookies!" Linda responded just as sweetly, her husband chiming in as well. They closed the door slowly, and Lucas' eyes wandered to meet Barry's right before their gazes were broken completely.

As they trotted back to their own home, Lucas' mother gushed. "They seem like such nice people. They've even got a son your age, Lucas!" she observed aloud. " I'm sure you two will get along well."

Lucas nodded his head a bit. "Yeah, I bet." Honestly, Lucas was a little glad about his new neighbors. There weren't any other teens that lived in Twinleaf, leaving him rather lonely as an only child. His only source of adolescent interaction came in the form of Dawn, his good friend whom lived in Sandgem, the next town over. She came to Twinleaf often to chat with Lucas about the new pokémon or other things she'd learned about as Professor Rowan's assistant.

Back inside his own house, Lucas kicked off his shoes before receding back into his room. The screen of his TV had gone black because of how long he'd been away. Yawning, the dark-haired boy picked up the controlled and hit a button, lighting the screen up once again before continuing on his merry way. Absently he flew and ran and ate his way through the level, having mastered the controls long since he'd begun the game last week.

He came to a mini boss a few minutes later, the creature consisting of yellow fur and a pair of beady brown eyes. When Lucas landed his first hit on it, the eyes bulged in a cartoon-like fashion as the damaged animation was played. And suddenly enough, Lucas was reminded of that Barry boy, with his messy blonde hair and vivid amber eyes. All the while, Lucas beat the boss down with ease and entered the door that opened up for him.

He wondered if Barry liked video games.

—**e**—**n**—**d**—**c**—**h**—**a**—**p**—**t**—**e**—**r** —

_**A/N: There'll be more, and it'll be longer and more interesting, I swear. :C**_

So I freakin' love this pairing. Started playing through Platinum a few days ago and I was like, "Oh yeah, this pairing is like the best thing ever." And so I felt compelled to write a fic about it. Might not be long, might not have much plot, but nevertheless I hope you liked this enough to stick with it.

I feel like I'm late to the party. Does anyone still care about this pairing? xDD well I do and that's ALL THAT MATTERS.

Leave a review telling me whatcha liked, didn't like, things I can improve on, etc etc. It makes me very happy, and I'd appreciate it! :D

See you with the next chapter. C:  



	2. First Impression

_**A/N: Thank you all for the kind reviews! :'D It's totes appreciated. Here's to hoping you enjoy this chapter.**_

WARNINGS: Barry says 'ass'. What a rebel.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Pokémon, there would be a Pokémon Gray instead of Black and White 2. :C

—**s—t—a—r—t—c**—**h**—**a**—**p**—t—**e**—r—

"Honey, why don't you go and see if that boy next door wants to play?"

Lucas looked up from where he stood washing the dishes. Truth be told, he had been planning to do exactly that since he'd woken up that morning. Sadly, though, Lucas wasn't the most outgoing or confident of people, and as such he'd been procrastinating. "Yeah, good idea. I'll finish up the dishes, though."

His mother smiled. "That's my boy, being so helpful!" she cooed, coming up behind him to pinch his cheek.

Lucas sighed. "Mom, stop."

Before Martha could reprimand her son for using such a tone with her, the doorbell rang, saving Lucas the trouble. She straightened up. "Huh, I wonder who that could be?" she wondered aloud, walking on over to open the door.

Lucas shrugged his shoulders and went back to his chore for a few seconds before his mother's voice caught his attention. "Oh, hello there, sweetie!"

Turning his head curiously, he spotted whom else but Barry in the space between his mother and the doorway, smiling widely up at his mother. "Hiya! Can Lucas come out and play?" He then took a look around and spotted said boy at the sink, long sleeves rolled up to his elbows and hands sudsy and wet. "Or maybe it's a bad time," he chuckled. Lucas smiled a little warily in return. Was he making fun of him?

His mother shook her head. "Oh no, it's completely fine! Lucas, honey, leave the dishes there; I'll finish them. You go get your shoes!" she insisted, even going so far as to emphasize herself with her hands and shoo him upstairs.

Lucas internally sighed and nodded. "Yes'm." Did she have to embarrass him in front of his first potential male friend in ages? He climbed the stairs quickly, shedding his slippers in favor of the tennis shoes sitting by his door. Running a hand through his dark hair, he grimaced and just decided to wear his trademark red hat, like he almost always did. Pulling his sleeves back down, he exited his room once more, now ready for anything. "Sorry about that," he apologized, bowing slightly once he was within the door's sight.

Barry laughed. "No problem! C'mon, follow me," he insisted, grabbing his hand and tugging him across the threshold playfully. "Goodbye, miss Martha!"

"Bye, boys!" she giggled in response before closing the door behind them.

Lucas stumbled along behind Barry, a little bewildered. Either he was super excited for some reason or he was just an energetic person to begin with. "Hey, wait a sec! Slow down!" he yelled after having stumbled and almost fallen down behind him.

Barry looked back and skidded to a halt. "Huh?" he asked, letting go of Lucas' hand and cocking his head to the side. "Somethin' wrong?"

Lucas adjusted his hat a bit, giving the blonde a rather stern look. "What's the rush? I almost tripped." A quick look around himself told him that they'd already ventured into Barry's front yard in less than five seconds.

Barry blinked. "Oh." Then he smiled brightly. "My bad. I'm just excited! You're gonna be my first friend in Twinleaf!"

Lucas was unable to keep the serious look on his face at that. It felt...kinda nice, to have someone this excited to spend time with him. "Y-Yeah," he agreed, smiling back. "I'm excited, too."

"You don't show it very well," he observed, and Lucas felt a bit self-conscious and taken aback. The smile hadn't left Barry's face, though, so it couldn't have been a bad thing. Right? "But anyway, I'll be right back. Gonna go get something real quick. Don't move a muscle!" He was half-sprinting half-skipping away before Lucas could even think about responding.

Lucas let his head tilt to the side a bit. Barry was a bit overzealous, to be sure, but he seemed sincere enough. His eyes were still bright as ever, though. The dark-haired boy had admittedly been staring a bit, but if Barry had noticed, he hadn't shown it at all.

And then Barry was back, holding in his hands a basketball and smiling as widely as ever. "Ta-da! We can play some b-ball at the park!"

Lucas smiled back, pocketing his hands in the gray cargo pants he wore. "Yeah. It's pretty close, too, so you don't have to run."

Barry snorted. "Awh man, but I was gonna ask you to race me!"

The taller of the two laughed. "Why would I take part in a race I'd surely lose?"

"For fun."

"Fun for you, you mean. Losing isn't fun at all."

"Okay then, mister killjoy."

They lulled into a calm silence then, walking side by side down the street; only a few blocks until they'd reach the park's basketball court. Lucas was beginning to wonder why he'd worn a long sleeve black shirt in the first place; it was rather hot outside. He pushed them up to his elbows, exposing his semi-pale forearms.

Barry, on the other hand, wore an orange and white striped short sleeve zip up shirt, which showed of his tanned skin by default. His jeans were skinny, sticking to his thin legs tightly. Lucas wondered whether that was comfortable for a moment before Barry gave him a sideways glance. His own dark blue eyes met the blonde's amber ones almost instantly. "So, how old are you, anyway?"

Lucas blinked. "Fourteen."

Barry smiled. He seemed to do that a lot. "Oh, how cool! I am too. What month were you born in?"

"July."

"Hah! I'm older than you~."

"What month were you born in?"

"April."

"Oh." Lucas scratched the back of his neck.

"So you don't have any siblings?"

Lucas looked up at the sky, where the sun shone down on them unrelentlessly. "Nope. I'm an only child."

"Oh." Barry was silent for a moment. "That must be kinda lonely. Are there many guys our age around here?"

Lucas laughed. "There aren't many guys _or_ girls our age around here. In fact, besides you and me, none."

Barry gasped. "So you don't have any friends?"

"Well, I do. They're all just a lot younger than me...and more like acquaintances than friends. But there's Dawn. She's our age, but she lives in Sandgem, the bigger town to the east. She comes to visit me here sometimes."

"Oh, really? Sweet. Are you two, like, an item?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, smiling all the while.

Lucas chuckled. "_Right_, like Dawn would want a relationship with me. Nah, we're just friends, and that's fine with me."

"Aww. Well, as long as it's cool with you." Barry then looked up at something above Lucas, and smiled. "Nice hat."

Lucas was a bit taken aback. "Huh? Oh, thanks," he replied, smiling. "It's always on my head."

"Not when you're washing dishes!" Barry laughed.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Well, wearing hats inside your own house is kinda redundant."

"But why? Are you embarrassed of your hair or something?"

"No. I just like wearing the hat. I do kind of need a haircut, though."

"Really? I think that length looks nice."

Lucas blinked and colored the tiniest bit in the cheek region, and Barry simply laughed. "But I could never wear a hat. My hair's too sexy to be restricted like that~." He ran a hand through it and winked.

Lucas couldn't help but laugh at his antics. He liked Barry; he was easy to talk to and quite entertaining. Though whether he had some kind of narcissistic complex or not remained to be seen. "Right."

A few seconds later they managed to stride past the house that shielded the park from view. Barry then took off for the court, which lay about ten meters away. Lucas inwardly chuckled. He'd probably been dying to run, but had held back for Lucas' sake. When Barry stopped in front of a goal (approximately three and a half seconds later) he bounced the ball a few times and waved Lucas down. "Hey! C'mon, hurry up! I'm gonna score some points on you!" He then took a haphazard shot that actually managed to swish.

Lucas practically facepalmed. "Dear God, I'm screwed."

"Huh?"

"Ah, nothing." Lucas jogged over to the blonde's side, whom had gone to retrieve the ball. "You're good at this, aren't you?"

"The best." He winked and passed the ball to Lucas, whom caught it right in front of his face with a flinch. "You?"

Lucas gave him a half-smile. "Truthfully, I suck at sports. This one is no different."

Barry laughed. "Oh, this'll be fun. Okay, try to dribble past me."

Lucas frowned but did as he was told, dribbling the ball until he got a good rhythm going. He then went to walk it around Barry. That is, until said boy's hand shot out and stole it mid-dribble. Lucas started and whirled around to face him accusingly. "Hey! You stole it!"

Barry's half-lidded amber eyes were clearly amused as he smiled, spinning the ball on his middle finger like it was no big deal. "Well, you didn't even try to keep me from stealing. Basketball's an aggressive sport, y'know."

Lucas swallowed, feeling a little uneasy under the intensity of his gaze. "Yeah, well, that might have something to do with why I'm not good at it."

Barry held the ball out to Lucas. When he went to take it back, though, Barry swiftly began to dribble and stepped away from him. "Too slow~."

Lucas made a sound of disbelief and disapproval. "Wha—seriously? Dude, you're..."

"An ass? Psh, I'm just trying to teach you something."

To Lucas it felt more like teasing. "And what's that, pray tell?"

Barry laughed. "You talk weird."

Lucas blushed. "I talk intelligently."

"That may be true, but you can drop that crap when we're hanging out. You don't have to impress me." He smiled.

Lucas' color didn't get any better.

"Anyway, here. Try to steal the ball." He stood still, merely dribbling the ball at an admittedly fast pace.

Lucas sighed but decided he'd play along, and swiped clumsily at the ball. Barry sidestepped and avoided his hand, tutting. "Now now, you want to steal it, not knock it out of bounds."

Lucas deadpanned. "You know what? I don't even want to learn." He then turned on his heel and walked away for a few steps, until he realized he had nothing else to do besides play with Barry.

Barry just laughed. "You're such a pansy. But okay, fine. Let's just shoot some hoops."

Begrudgingly, Lucas agreed. Every shot Barry took, he made. Lucas, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as good. He did better than he usually did, but still made only roughly half of the shots he took. And the ones he didn't make always managed to bounce off in the craziest of directions, requiring that he chase after them. He was soon out of breath and insisting that Barry take multiple shots in a row.

"So, you from around here?" Barry asked as he bent his knees and shot yet again. It swished.

Lucas watched on with an undeniable bit of awe. "Yeah, born and raised." Another flawless shot. "What about you? Where are you from?"

Barry dribbled the ball a bit. "Hearthome."

Lucas blinked. Hearthome City, the biggest city in Sinnoh and by far the artsiest. It bustled with everyone who wanted to be anyone and radiated with uniqueness. Having been raised in, conversely, the smallest town in Sinnoh his whole life, Lucas was fairly sure he'd spontaneously combust if he were to suddenly move there. "Really? Cool." Barry made yet another shot. "Why did you guys leave?"

Barry caught the ball again with ease. "My dad thought it would be better for Cassie to grow up in a small town. Plus he thought it'd be a nice change of pace." He simply held the ball by his side then. "That and dad wasn't really impressed with what me and Cassie were surrounded with. Drugs and homos and stuff, y'know. I miss my friends, but I can call 'em if I get too homesick."

"...I see." Somehow, Lucas got the feeling he'd gone deeper than he'd meant to; Barry looked a bit melancholy, a weird expression for he whom constantly smiled.

Barry looked at him then, still smile-less. "Wanna give it another try?" he offered, holding the ball out to him.

When Lucas reached for it, he actually managed to touch it. The dark-haired boy smiled unprovoked for once. "Thanks, but no thanks. It's getting kinda late," he declined, bringing their attention to the setting sun to the west.

Barry just looked at him for a moment before smiling irregularly; it wasn't blindingly bright or super cheerful, but simple good-naturedness. "What are you, eight? Geez. If you don't want to hang out anymore, just say so." He began walking off despite that, though.

Lucas momentarily worried that he'd offended the blonde. "Barry! I didn't mean it like that. My mom just makes dinner early."

"Right."

"Seriously!"

Barry laughed and shot Lucas a wink with a quick turn around. "I know, I know. Relax, Lucas, I'm just playing."

Lucas half-glared. "You're always sarcastic or joking like that. I can't tell when you're serious."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell when I'm serious."

The banter continued like that until they came up to Barry's house once more. The shorter of the two dribbled his way halfway up the driveway before turning to face Lucas. What took Lucas aback was the lack of a smile, and his eyes. They looked even prettier when adorned with the colors of the sunset. "Lucas..." Barry began, voice laced with an unusual sense of uncertainty.

"Barry?"

They locked eyes for what felt like a long time until Barry suddenly grinned. "Y'know what? Never mind. G'night, buddy."

Lucas blinked in confusion but waved goodbye to him anyway. Once Barry was enveloped in the shadows of his garage, Lucas began walking back to his own home. _I wonder what that was about._

When he closed the front door of his house, his mother called out to him. "Honey, is that you?"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "If you mean the little honey, then yes."

"Oh, Lucas!" She giggled. "Welcome home. Help me get ready for dinner, would you?"

"Sure." He slid his shoes off by the door and entered the kitchen, noting with disdain that they were having meatloaf. Gross. "On second thought, I'll pass."

"Quiet, dear. Set the table."

"Hai'su."

Martha pulled some garlic bread out of the oven and sat it on the cooling rack. "By the way, how did you and Barry get along?"

Lucas smiled. "I think we're gonna be good friends, Mom."

—**e**—**n**—**d**—**c**—**h**—**a**—**p**—**t**—**e**—**r** —

_**A/N: Yay, Barry! I like writing him. It's fun, especially when he teases Lucas like that :'D**_

I'll formally introduce Dawn soon. After we get some good ground on which Barry and Lucas can develop feelings. C:

Also, and this is really off-topic, but is there a ship name for Touya (or Hilbert but holy f-k I hate that name)/Lucas? BECAUSE THERE SHOULD BE. I totally have a story in my head. But I won't type it because I have enough to deal with as it is. /cry

But, yeah. Not much else to say. Review if you wanna. The button is literally right below this sentence. Well, nearly.

_**つづく**__**(To be continued.)**_


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